Is SaaS the Wave of the Future?

Two different research reports, one from Gartner and one from AMI-Partners, in the last week, of small to mid-size business, show that software as a service (SaaS) will increase over the next year. So, what is driving the overwhelming number of businesses that intend to increase their use of SaaS?

Gartner suggests that 95% of companies expect to increase their use of SaaS as a wave of enabling their workforce with specific software applications. The other study from AMI-Partners suggests that customer relationship management applications and software services will continue to be a primary focus for small businesses.

“Customer engagement on social networking sites is driving SMBs to pay closer attention to their social communities,” Jacqueline Atkinson, research manager at AMI-Partners, said. “But it is the influence of the cloud that affects their decision to adopt more advanced customers’ solutions. Such market trends are creating the right conditions for the integration of social media with CRM applications for enhanced interactions with customers. In fact, U.S. SMB CRM users are a third more likely to engage in social media activities for business than firms who do not use CRM.”

Do you agree – SaaS will continue to gain momentum? Or do you think this is just Hype, and you don’t predict an increase in software as a service?